Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)

Roadmap To Versions

The Fall 2020 issue of Ukulele Magazine had a nice article on this song complete with an arrangement by Adam Perlmutter, performed by Sarah Maizel. I knew that I had one arrangement in my files, from the TVUC Christmas songbook, but couldn't find an arrangement of the verses sung by Cohen that I was satisfied with. So I did a bit of digging and came up with the following five versions.

These files are available in two formats:

Each can be downloaded as a PDF file, MS Word file (.docx), or "Open Document" file (.odt). Here is a compressed file containing all five versions, Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) (C & G).

In some of his live performances, when the word "you" occurs at the end of a line, Cohen pronounces it as "ya" (presumably to rhyme with "Hallelujah" although this is hotly debated; see: "do you" vs "do ya", Leonard Cohen Forum). In these files, I have used "you," as found in the listing of verses on the Official Audio YouTube webpage.

First lines of verses reproduced on "Official Audio" YouTube page:

1. Now I've heard there was a secret chord
2. Your faith was strong but you needed proof
3. Baby I have been here before
4. There was a time you let me know
5. You say I took the name in vain
6. Maybe there's a God above
7. I did my best, it wasn't much

Cohen used alternate openings for the third verse in several concerts including "O people,..." (Dublin, Sept. 14, 2012, and Live In Dublin, Sept. 12, 2013) and "O darling,..." (Dublin, June 13, 2008). Cohen made use of all seven verses during his 2008 tour, usually playing six of them in each performance.

Caveat: I am not an expert concerning Leonard Cohen or any of his songs.

Version 1. 4 Verses. The verses and their order follow the version recorded for the 1984 album, “Various Positions” (Side B, #5, 4:34) (Official Audio)

Version 2. 4 verses. Lyrics from "Cohen Live" (June 1994), a performance in Austin, October 31, 1988. Duration: 6:54.

Version 3. 6 Verses. The order follows the "Official Video" (London, July 17, 2008)

Version 4. The 7 verses reproduced on the "Official Audio" YouTube page (although the "Official Audio" has four verses).

Version 5. 5 Verses. My mix of verses 1, 2, 6, 5, & 7:

1. Now I've heard there was a secret chord
2. Your faith was strong but you needed proof
6. Maybe there's a God above
5. You say I took the name in vain
7. I did my best, it wasn't much

Notes:

The song was originally written in the key of C Major in 12/8 time. Cohen wrote around 80 draft verses for "Hallelujah", with one writing session at the Royalton Hotel in New York where he was reduced to sitting on the floor in his underwear, banging his head on the floor.

Following his original 1984 studio-album version, Cohen performed the original song on his world tour in 1985 ― for example in Montreal ― but live performances during his 1988 and 1993 tours almost invariably contained a quite different set of lyrics. Numerous singers mix lyrics from both versions, and occasionally make direct lyric changes.

The popularity of the song increased after Bob Dylan began performing it in live concerts in 1988 (Montreal on July 8 and Los Angeles on August 4). Among the over 645 covers include those by

See: A Thousand Covers Deep: Leonard Cohen Covered By Other Artists, Songs Sorted By The Song Title, pages 16-25 (Last Update: June 19, 2017), www.LeonardCohenFiles.com. 645 entries were listed.

It was listed as one of the 500 greatest songs by Rolling Stone magazine.

Recordings of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen include those in the following seven collections:

Source: Song Index, Leonard Cohen Files

Some other performances by Cohen (from YouTube)

No complete set of the verses has been published to my knowledge. See: Complete Hallelujah Lyrics, Leonard Cohen Forum.

Sources:

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